Market Critique- Zoe Mitchell
In Michael Hardts ‘Affective Labor,’ it is stated, “The
other face of immaterial labor is the affective labor of human contact and
interaction.” (95) This is what I perceived as the mode of exchange used in The
Market of Immaterial Labors. All of the stalls provided an exchange of human
interaction as their key objective, whether it is by giving a gift to each
participator, or exchanging something with them. While there wasn’t a dominant
theme or visual connection between each of the stalls, I believe that each
stall connected back to the overall idea of exchanging an action or gift, which
created a high level of interaction between everyone within the market.
One of the most enjoyable stalls was the Quilt making stall,
where each participator designed a square that was then sewn into a quilt to be
given to the Wellington Children’s Hospital. The exchange of labor to create a
gift could then be given to a good cause, creating human connection outside of
the market aswell. Each participator was then rewarded by receiving a coffee in
exchange for their labour.
Another stall used the exchange of knowledge that returned
to you in the form of a gift- in this case being a ‘tattoo’. By giving in
knowledge of interests, they then gave back to the participator in the form of
a stamp on their hand representing that knowledge given.
A third was the ‘beach de-stress’ where a cup of lemonade
was given in exchange for writing down something stressful in life. The
participator was then directed to a ‘beach’ area where they could relax and let
go of the stress.
The mode of exchange added to the overall enjoyment of the
market, leaving participators with a happy smile on their faces. Each stall demonstrated the use of gift giving and interaction, which ultimately I felt was what made the market an affective form of labour.
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